


James is Dating

by sweeetbabe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hinny, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, POV Ginny Weasley, POV Harry Potter, hinny being parents, james is dating, james sirius is a good boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeetbabe/pseuds/sweeetbabe
Summary: “James is dating.” Harry said, no longer holding on to the secret, remembering non-stop the scene of his son kissing the blonde warmly, in the back of their house.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Sirius Potter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

“James is dating.” Harry said, no longer holding on to the secret, remembering non-stop the scene of his son kissing the blonde warmly, in the back of their house.

Harry knew that his children were growing up, apparently it was inevitable that this would not happen, there was no potion or spell that would slow that moment. But he hoped he was free a few more years from having to deal with teenage romance.

“What?” Ginny said, stopping the cream on her face and turning to him with eagle eyes. “How do you know?”

“I saw it.” Harry sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and hiding his face with his hands. When did your son stop saying ‘ew’ for any interaction between man and woman and started practicing them? Nobody talked about it when you said you were going to be a father.

“Saw? What the fuck?” Ginny was still half-white and the other half intact, looking at him like an owl mother, looking like she was about to leave the room and go down to the second floor in order to find her newest perverted son.

“I went to see if he needed anything, he was so quiet and… Ah Gin, he was kissing that friend of his” The man groaned in disapproval, wanting himself to throw himself out of the window or oblivion himself. It was horrible to be sure that your children were growing up.

“Mira?! Oh, Merlin..” Ginny sat next to her husband, still with rosy cheeks and steady eyes “But..” She started “It’s better here, than in a dark alley, who knows where… You and I know what we did to escape my parents.”

“Please speak quietly, the Gods can remember that and punish us even more.” The man fell on the bed, watching the plaster ceiling they had chosen years ago .. 16 years ago.

They had lived there for 16 years, that James had been born, and that Harry had picked up his son for the first time.

So many, many nights that he interrupted his parents just because he wanted to sleep among them, or that he liked to sit on Harry’s legs because he was _his_ dad, and the times when he asked to hear stories from school… It looked like it had been a century ago.

James was still talking to him, obviously, earlier the boy made a joke about Albus and some other Slytherin.. Robert? Stephan?Harry didn’t remember, but it was one of those moments when James gossiped about his brothers, without actually gossiping. As if he just wanted to keep his parents aware of what was going on.

‘‘Should we go talk to him?’’ Harry asked, but not quite sure what he was going to say. Teddy had first told Ginny when he started dating Vic, so the whole situation was easier when he arrived. Did James expect him to help him? That he knew?

‘’We’re going to wait for him to come to us.’’ Ginny said firmly, still looking a little jealous ‘’And he will come eventually.’’

But James was slow.

The next day, he was talking normally at the table, and when the subject became Mira (something recurring, because apparently, Lily loved the girl), James acted naturally and told something they had done or something muggle that she introduced him to.. And then he changed the topic, without even looking ashamed or afraid.

In the days that have passed, every time Harry touched - unpretentiously - on the subject of dating, and how they would cope when Lily started dating, James shrugged and said that Lily would be lucky if someone was able to hold her for more than five minutes, and then, he would do whatever he was doing again.

Even when George asked him about girls on Sunday, James didn’t blink. He laughed at the joke, rolled his eyes, continuing the matter normally.

Harry was going crazy.

But finally, a week and a half later, after another day where he went out with Michael and Piper (which Harry doubted), he finally said:

“I’m dating.”

Both were lying in a hammock, it had been a fun day. Harry, James and Albus had modified Lily’s treehouse and made it more spacious and comfortable. Then they fixed the owlery, and also built a new home for Sir, their new dog.

Albus had gone out with Ginny, they were both going to the market to buy something that Harry didn’t understand, and Lily had gone out with Arthur and Molly for a walk.

Harry and James were left. They flew for a while and then settled in the hammocks he had won from Bill a few Christmases ago. The sun was almost setting behind the trees at the back of the house, and they were starting to hear some crickets, birds and even owls, with the silence they were making.

But then James had said that, and Harry thought he was unable to hide his expression.

‘’Since when?’’ It was the first thing that came out, his curiosity and fatherly concern dueling in the chest.

‘’Dating _really_? I think… Since after Easter.’’ Harry’s eyes widened.

‘’Since April?!’’ They were almost in August!

‘’I didn’t want to tell you via Flu or Letter… Won’t you ask who it is?’’ He finally sat on the hammock, looking at his son, who - just now - had pink cheeks. James still looked like the same boy that Harry saw growing up, but now he looked much older than he remembered. However, it was still the little boy who cared too much about his father’s opinion of him.

‘’Mira?’’

‘’How do you know?’’ James laughed nasally, sitting up too. ‘’Albus told you? He’s a gossip.’’ Oh dear…

‘’Er… yeah, let’s say yes.’’ He wouldn’t tell the truth, besides, even James knew that Albus wouldn’t tell his parents anything, not if he asked for secrecy. ‘’But then… Do you like her?’’

‘’I wouldn’t be dating if I didn’t like her.’’ James gave him that cheeky smile, loaded with a confidence that neither Ginny nor Harry knew where it came from. Harry raised an eyebrow in response. ‘’It’s a joke, of course I like her.’’ He lay back in the hammock, legs out touching the grass, swinging it from side to side. ‘’I wanted to tell you before, but I thought I was being hasty.’’

‘’So those outings with the boys, were they really, with her?’’

‘‘No, it was really Michael and Piper.’’ James shrugged. ‘’I wasn’t going to lie about it, besides, Mira is out of town.’’ Harry smiled at his sincerity.

It was quite different to see James talking quite naturally about Mira, and to think about how Harry had dealt with Ginny in the beginning, so afraid to even hold her hand in front of Molly or Arthur.

The boy started telling about how it had all happened and how he had been an idiot before, and all Harry could do was laugh and listen, marveling at the ease of the facts and how much more comfortable James seemed to be telling the truth.

He thought vaguely of Sirius, of Snape’s memory, confident and a smartass, even more so than his father (as much as James seemed to want to appear extremely confident).

His son had that sparkle in his eyes that Harry had never experienced, telling him about how he felt when he realized he liked her, and how Mira said no when he asked her out (“Can you believe it? But in the end she went out with me and we kissed, so … who cares?”)

Harry laughed and listened to everything, happy to be able to provide it to James (only Merlin and he knew how much he missed having someone who could hear him talking about Ginny), making some comments and reminding him of the traumatic sex conversation - which seemed much more important now.

He was happy to have listened to Ginny and let James come over when he felt comfortable, even though it was still awkward to think about his little boy, dating.


	2. Chapter 2

'Busy?' Ginny said, head into James' messy room, looking for him in all that mess of clothes, gifts, new things, and a lot of other things he kept inside.

'No. Do you need anything?’ He stepped out of the small closet by the window, still wearing only the old, dirty paint-dry shorts he had used to help build the new house for Sir, their dog.

'Do you want to go with me to the market? Your father asked me to buy more ice cream, fish and beer.' Today all the Weasley and aggregates would gather at the Potter house, Harry seemed more anxious than ever to open the new room, which was now not just a forgotten room at the back of the house, with everything that couldn't fit in the attic, which almost never had the windows open. It was an appropriate place, with comfortable armchairs, a wallpaper of flamingos that Ginny had chosen and an incredible view of the pool and the sunset.

'Sure, I'm just going to put the shirt on ... will I meet you down there?' She nodded, closing the door and walking to the stairs.

It had been a day since James told Harry that he was dating and so far he has remained silent to Ginny, which saddened her a little, since James always told her several things. She waited patiently after dinner, guaranteed to get James to help clear the table with her, and yet, today during the morning run, she tried not to say too much, hoping that he would bother with the silence - as he always did - and talk about the news she already knew.

Harry summed up what the two of them had talked about and how happy James looked about how it all went down, but Ginny wanted to hear directly from him, not just what her husband remembered.

Harry couldn't tell if James had that sparkle in his eyes that she saw appear during one of the dinners, while he and Mira talked softly in the other corner of the table, and her son seemed to almost sparkle every time she laughed. Or when he hurry down the stairs while the owl hooted to announce it arrival with the mail. And Ginny wouldn't even comment on the time she caught him looking at Mira' breasts. It was a quick thing, while she and Mira talked about Quidditch, the girl fixed the collar of her sweater, without any apparent malice, and out of the corner of her eye Ginny had been able to notice the movement of James' eyes.

She wanted to laugh and make some comment about it, but the boy soon managed to get them off track and take Mira away from Ginny, saying they were going to play Quidditch - and they went.

Mira was a girl that Ginny had been cheering James on to notice her, since the first day Ginny met her, she was a sweet person, and it was understandable that even Scorpion, always tried to be around her on vacation. She was also beautiful; tall, almost the same height as James, with blonde hair similar to Fleur's, but more wavy and messy than the perfectly smooth strands of her sister-in-law, dark eyes that seemed almost unreal, and a way of behaving that exuded confidence. Not much to detriment her, just enough that she could survive the world without being too affected. And she was smart, which was a very important point for Ginny not to worry about.

As far as James talked, her mother was a witch and so was her stepfather, while her father was a muggle, as were her grandparents. They even got to know her mother on a day when they went to get Mira to go with them to the Quidditch Cup, the woman had studied in the same year as the twins but was a Ravenclaw, just like her husband.

Mira was the perfect girl that Ginny could have imagined for James.

Okay, aside from the fact that maybe she was in as much or more trouble than the boy, but it was something to let go of.

'Is Dad going to make fish? I thought Teddy had convinced him to make that meat pie,’ James appeared, startling Ginny who was concentrating on watching the yard through the big window in the living room.

'You know what he looks like, when he put something on his head, forget it.' She turned, smiling at the boy and giving him her arm to hold, in order to apparate to the dark and safe alley where they landed. The market was a block and a half away, but today was a Saturday during the holidays, which meant crowded streets and long lines for even the simplest things.

'Excited to start classes?' She asked, needing to restrain herself from releasing a million questions about the courtship he had kept hidden for so long.

'Yes, at least I’m not going to see Professor Johann anymore, which makes me very happy. ’

'I thought you liked DADA.' The two stopped in the fishmonger line, surrounded by conversation.

'I like it,' James shrugged, fussing with his hair like his father did, almost making Ginny laugh. 'But he is very annoying, and he hates me.'

'I doubt it.'

'I'm serious, he hates us all but Mira, but it's because she and he share the same terrible taste for books, and they've been reading the same saga lately, but if it weren't for that, he would make her organize more than thousand of his books in alphabetical order too, as he does with us. '

‘And what does he tell her to do?’ Ginny wanted to jump for joy because they were talking about Mira, knowing that now it would be much easier to pull James’s secret.

'He almost never gives her detention, really, it's almost like he was blind to her walking down the corridors or in the forest at night, but the times he had to do that, Mira said that she just kept separating the tests by year and home' James denied, looking incredulous.

'Well ... and what would she be doing in the hall at night? Or in the Forest? ’

'Nothing I know of, of course.' James smiled in that way that always made Ginny and Harry watch, his eyes shining in something malicious, as if hiding to death what the hell they were up to at school. 'I am usually in my room, you know? Respecting the schedule and sleeping early. ’

‘Oh sure, I sure believe that,’ She smiled falsely. 'Will Mira come to dinner?'

'No, she traveled to her uncles' house in France, her cousin just gave birth to a baby.'

'Hm ... We should go to France for the next vacation, it is a pretty beautiful destination, especially in the summer.' James smiled in agreement, but if Ginny knew her son well, he was not thinking about French landscapes. 'I like her.'

'From whom?' The boy looked at her, curious, as if he were caught in the act.

'Mira. She is very kind to us. ’

'She is like that naturally.' James defended her, even though Ginny was not implying anything.

'A great quality, by the way ... And she is beautiful.' James' cheeks turned pink, but he continued to look confidently at all the fish exposed in the ice basins, it was almost their turn.

'Scorpion agrees with that, I think I saw him looking at her legs more times than I can count.' He looked at Ginny, his brown eyes looking so much like the ones she saw in the mirror when she caught herself thinking about Harry as she dressed for her class, trying to ignore how all the girls seemed to like him now that he was in sixth year and had grown up.

'And you? Do you agree?' She took a risk, biting her cheek to contain her smile when her son's face caught fire.

'She is my _best_ _friend._ '

'Hermione was Ron's best friend.' She shrugged. ‘That didn’t stop him from finding her beautiful.’

'Daddy told you, didn't he?' James stared at her as if Ginny had just said that she knew his biggest secret, eyebrows raised.

'Did he tell what?' Before James could speak, however, the fishmonger called them.

They didn't waste a lot of time in the market, exchanging few words while choosing the products and then paying, walking at a slow pace and almost as if they were postponing their return home, feeling the breeze of that summer night, and seeing the city brighter and more awake than ever.

James didn't open his mouth, seeming to think well before speaking, but Ginny wanted to laugh and ask her son if he thought she was an idiot and that she hadn't realized that overnight, there were pictures of him with Mira in his room, especially the one of the two in Hogsmeade where he had his arm around her waist.

'He told you what I told him.' The boy finally spoke, and Ginny stopped walking, thinking that if they went home, there would be no way to talk without Albus, Lily, Harry or her whole family arriving and hinder, then, she preferred to stop and sit on a bench that was in front of a square they used to run, discreetly putting a spell so that the fish that would not spoil by staying out of the ice.

'Yes.' She looked at him as soon as they were seated, smiling from ear to ear. 'Your father is a gossip, you know that.'

'What do you think?' James also smiled, but his cheeks were flushed.

'Well, I like Mira, and as long as it doesn't interfere with your studies or hers, everything is fine. I've been waiting for this for some time.' The boy laughed, denying and looking at the lake that shone ahead, lit by the various lampposts.

'Her grandmother wants to talk to us.'

'Grandma?' James nodded, laughing even more.

'She says she wants to meet our family, said she is tired of just hearing about the Potter but never sees them in person.' The two laughed. 'It's all right? Are we going to have dinner with them after they get back from the trip?’

'Of course, it will be a good time, I'm sure.' She sighed. 'Do you like her? Isn't it just something to pass the time?' Ginny didn't know if she would be able to overcome the disappointment she would feel if James did that, even though she thought it unlikely that he would be able to play with Mira's feelings like that.

'Nooo, I really like her. We get along well.' He looked happy, in fact, during the Easter break he looked a little miserable, and Ginny wondered now if it had anything to do with her. James was no longer hiding in the room and remaining silent and scowling in the corners

'Good, because I like her very much, and we would fight if you were playing with her.'

'It is more capable of her making me cry than the other way around,' he joked. 'But I wouldn't have told you if it was nothing.'

'You didn't tell, your father told me.'

'Yeah, whatever.' He shrugged. 'I think I was embarrassed... Lily made the whole trip miserable, sitting in our compartment just to provoke, talking nonstop to Mira.'

'She's jealous of you, you're her big brother.' Ginny smiled, remembering how sulky her daughter was every time James went out with friends and she needed to stay. 'You did the same with Teddy. It's normal.'

'But it sucks.' He made a face. ‘Albus wasn’t like that when he heard.’

'He's better at hiding his feelings, we'll have to wait a few more weeks to find out.' The two were quiet, the music from the pub across the street was loud, as were the laughter and conversation, and Ginny almost started to worry with when it would James who wanted to go to places like that, wondering if she would stay up all night like she did when Teddy first went out.

Not that she didn't trust James, but it was still a little disconcerting to look at him, and realize that he was no longer that little boy who hugged her legs whenever he was embarrassed.

'Are you happy?' She looked at him.

'Yes.' James smiled, that shy dimple appearing on his left cheek. 'I was afraid that she would reject me. She’s a little scary. ’

‘But she didn’t reject it.’

'Yeah, something like that... She tried, and we fought, but then everything went well and I kissed her.' He smiled sheepishly, making Ginny laugh and that maternal concern dissolved a little.

'Well, this is what matters.' She stood up. 'Come on, let's go before your dad pulls out his hair and calls the Aurors to look for us.'

'He wouldn't do that.' The two walked to the alley.

'Never doubt Potter' drama.' Ginny lined them up, James holding her arm. 'I'm happy for you.' She kissed her son's forehead - which was almost starting to get taller than she was - and apparated them back to the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for any mistake   
> follow me on tumbrl @sweethinny

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for any mistake :)  
> follow me on tumblr @sweeethinny


End file.
